Sengoku Seki was an industry: smiths organized under their tutelary Kasuga shrine, arming the war bands of central Japan. Magoroku Kanemoto’s sanbonsugi and the finest Kanesada work prove quality survived inside mass production.
NihontoWatchNihontoWatchThis blade is attributed to Mino Senjuin (美濃千手院), which is one of the most famous schools during the late Nanbokucho-late Muromachi (Mid 14th-Early 16th century) period in Mino province (today’s Gifu prefecture). According to NBTHK that appraised this blade, it was approximately made during the mid-late Muromachi period (Late 15th-Early 16th century). The school was located in Akasaka village near Sekigahara, an essential hub for transportation and military bases from ancient times. It is said that the Mino Senjuin school was founded by Sensui (泉水), the son of Yamato Koku Senjuin Shigehiro. Yamato region was one of the most famous sites for sword-forging during the late Heian-Kamakura period. Sensui moved from Yamato (today’s Nara prefecture) to Akasaka village in Mino province during the Nanbokucho period. Senjuin School in Yamato region There was a temple called Senjudo in Nara prefecture where Senju Kannon (Thousand arms) Budha statue was worshiped. And a group of swordsmiths who lived there was known as Senjuin (千手院). They belonged to Todaji temple. Senjuin School was founded by Yukinobu, who was the son of Yoshiyuki. Yukinonobu was originally a servant for Senjuin temple, a branch of Todaiji temple during the late Heian period (1086-1107), and eventually became an Okakae Kaji for the temple. This blade is appraised as a Hozon Touken (保存刀剣) issued by NBTHK (Nihon Bijutsu Touken Hozon Kyokai: 日本美術刀剣保存協会). Please keep in mind that there are many visible kizu on this blade. If you like to see the detailed condition before placing an order, please make sure to ask us to send you additional photos first. Fuchi-Kashira While the surface of this Fuchi Kashira has become worn and some parts are challenging to see its design, we believe this Fuchi Kashira depicts a scenery of the waterside. Especially on the Kashira part, we could find the figures of flying birds over the sea. There is a classical motif called the Nami Chidori (波千鳥). The Nami (波) means waves, and Chidori (千鳥) is a plover. Golden paint is applied to these birds. The Nami Chidori pattern represents a happy marriage and family safety. In Japan, people have treated it as a good omen design since the Nara period (648-781). Waves are compared to the world, which describes determination: overcoming difficulties with a partner even if there are small or big waves (difficulties/troubles). Also, the plover pattern is used as a prayer. The Japanese name of the plover, Chidori, was associated with the word Chidori (千取り, which literally means get a thousand). Therefore, its design contains prayers for victory and wishes for goal achievement. Tsuba and Habaki This circle-shaped iron Tsuba has a Kozuka hole. The Mimi (耳, edge) is framed with a metal plate with a rope pattern. This decorative process is called the Fukurin (覆輪), and one of its purposes is to add beauty to works. In addition, it has practicality, such as preventing the wear of the edge part. Also, it prevents wear and tear on the Kimono if the edge damages it by touching the cloth. About the design, the Yotsu-Mokkou (四ツ木瓜) pattern is engraved with the openwork. Mokkou Mon is a pattern that has been depicted on a Mokou (帽額, cloths for decorating the hanging edge of the curtain and blinds). According to a theory, the Mokkou was named after the name of this silk cloth made of silk, “帽額 (Mokou).” Another view says that it was modeled after the cut end of a Boke (木瓜), a rose family plant. Authentication Paper They authenticated the blade on August 25th in the 5th year of Reiwa (2023). They appraised it as Hozon Touken, the blade worth preserving for Japanese society.
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Mino-den · Mino
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Akasaka in Mino Province was the seat of a group the NBTHK setsumei records under two names, Mino Senjuin and Akasaka Senjuin, and the documents are consistent on its descent: the line traces to the Yamato Senjuin tradition, whose craftsmen relocated north into Mino. The setsumei place that migration around the end of the Nanbokuchō period, with the group then flourishing into the Muromachi. According to the Kōsei Kotō Meikan as cited, the founder was Kuninaga, set around the Jōji years, with the line carrying the Kuninaga name onward to the Meiō era; Kunishige is placed near Kenmu and is represented by surviving work. The smiths the setsumei name span this arc: Kuninaga, Kunishige, and Kuniyuki of the Nanbokuchō; the joint spear-makers Hironaga and Hiroshige and the ancient smith Tōga of the Muromachi; and later hands signing Dōei, Dōin, Yasumichi, or simply Senjuin. The documents also chart a parallel current, the Echizen smith Kuniyuki of Tsuruga (signing Esshū or Etsushū) who entered Mino between Ōan 6 and 7, alongside Kaneshige and Tametsugu who likewise moved from Echizen. The shared vocabulary of these blades begins in the forging: itame mixed with mokume that flows toward masame, with grain that stands out (hada-dachi), ji-nie, chikei, and a whitish cast (shirake-gokoro) the setsumei return to repeatedly. The temper divides along two lines the documents describe as habitual. " The other runs hotter: notare mixed with gunome, abundant nie, yubashiri, tobiyaki, and muneyaki building toward hitatsura, the manner that marks the Echizen Kuniyuki current.
The bōshi tends to midare-komi with hakikake and a pointed return. To recognize the hand, the setsumei direct attention to the masame-bearing, whitish ji carrying Yamato traits of hotsure and kuichigai-ba, set against a gunome base that leans toward emerging Mino-den character. For kantei the documents are explicit that this line "consistently displays a stronger Yamato character" than the Seki-mono otherwise encountered, and that its hamon "stands at a considerable remove from typical Mino workmanship," though the jigane keeps it within that milieu. Signed pieces carrying an individual maker's name are noted as scarce, which raises the documentary weight of the dated and signed examples the setsumei single out: the Kuninaga tantō dated Ōan gannen, the signed Kunishige and Kuniyuki tachi, and the Esshū Kuniyuki wakizashi dated Sadaji and Ōan whose signatures incorporate Fujiwara. Among named works the setsumei cite the ōmi-yari signed Senjuin with its vermilion-lacquered long-shaft mounting, the joint spear of Hironaga and Hiroshige, and the wakizashi by Tōga held to copy the Genji treasure Higekiri. Provenance is recorded for the Tōga piece, formerly of Tanzan Shrine in Yamato, donated to the Imperial Household and recorded in Honma's inventory of the Imperial collection, with two further Tanzan blades assigned to the Nanbokuchō. The documents place these works across the Tokubetsu-Jūyō and Jūyō registers and Honma's inventory of the Imperial collection, reading the group as a Yamato offshoot that carried its masame-grounded manner into Mino while the gunome base turned toward Mino-den. Learn more →
| Smith | Era | Designated |
|---|---|---|
| Kuniyuki國行 | 1362-1368 | 8 |
| Doin道印 | 1469-1487 | 0 |
| Yasumichi康道 | 1504-1521 | 0 |
| Kaneuji兼氏 | 1492-1501 | 0 |
| Yasutsugu康繼 | 1532-1555 | 0 |
Mino in the Muromachi period
Sengoku Seki was an industry: smiths organized under their tutelary Kasuga shrine, arming the war bands of central Japan. Magoroku Kanemoto’s sanbonsugi and the finest Kanesada work prove quality survived inside mass production.
Certifies a genuine blade worth preserving: a signature confirmed correct, or, if unsigned, an era, province, and school that the NBTHK can reliably identify.
The NBTHK (Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai, the Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords) is a public-interest incorporated foundation founded in 1948 and supervised by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunkachō); it is based at the Japanese Sword Museum in Tokyo. Its expert panels physically examine each submitted work (shinsa) and issue a certificate (kanteishō) ranking it by artistic and historical merit. NBTHK papers are the most widely recognized standard of authentication for Japanese swords and fittings.
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